wally's 87 4runner upkeep thread
- Thread starter wallytoo
- Start date
wallytoo
Member
a short video from a ride along a local town road. road has been unmaintained for decades.
sorry for the "bouncy" quality - the road is rough, and i had to drive and hold the camera.
youtube:
short clip 87 4runner old town highway - YouTube
sorry for the "bouncy" quality - the road is rough, and i had to drive and hold the camera.
youtube:
short clip 87 4runner old town highway - YouTube
wallytoo
Member
the 31x10.5x15 cooper discoverers that i bought 7 years ago are about worn out, but i’ve been running them this summer to get a bit more miles out of them. decided to swap on the 32x11.5x15 achilles desert hawks/aurora at02 set. the coopers are mounted on american racing outlaw wheels, and the hawks/at02s are mounted on offset 8 toyota alloys.
the outlaw wheels are wider, which makes for a smaller overall diameter than if mounted on a narrow rim, but this makes a nice comparison of admittedly worn 31x10.5x15 vs new 32x11.5x15 tires.
how the 32s look on the 4runner
the outlaw wheels are wider, which makes for a smaller overall diameter than if mounted on a narrow rim, but this makes a nice comparison of admittedly worn 31x10.5x15 vs new 32x11.5x15 tires.
how the 32s look on the 4runner
Melrose 4r
New member
Cool video, Wally. I wish we had some roads like that around here.
wallytoo
Member
snapped the front e-brake cable again
last time was in 2014. did it again today. in 2014, i replaced the front e-brake cable with a genuine toyota cable. not impressed with only six years of use. my frigging '75 cj5 still has all of its original e-brake cables (which function). i ordered another genuine toyota cable. hope it lasts longer this time.
last time was in 2014. did it again today. in 2014, i replaced the front e-brake cable with a genuine toyota cable. not impressed with only six years of use. my frigging '75 cj5 still has all of its original e-brake cables (which function). i ordered another genuine toyota cable. hope it lasts longer this time.
wallytoo
Member
you should come up to central nh again (i saw your shots from conway etc). i'll take you to some mild, legal wheeling spots where you can give your runner a bit of a workout.
Melrose 4r
New member
Thanks for the invite! That would be awesome and my son would love it!
wallytoo
Member
most excellent! headgasket in red '87 is leaking. however, it is an external leak, instead of an internal leak. either way, time to replace it. ordered a bunch of geniune parts from McGeorge Toyota to the tune of about $117.xx delivered. now to take things apart to remove the leaking HG. yay.
Last edited:
Melrose 4r
New member
Have you started the disassembly yet? Any photos?
wallytoo
Member
oh, yeah. i’ve started. and finished. no photos, since i’m terrible about taking them in the middle of projects,
i ended up doing the timing chain, too. the drivers guide had a small piece missing around the upper bolt, so i just replaced everything (i had a complete internal timing kit on hand anyway). new guides, tensioner, cam sprocket, crank sprocket, and gaskets, along with a toyota head gasket and intake gasket.
head gasket looked to be original. not bad, 34 years and a tic under 200k miles (196k).
i ended up doing the timing chain, too. the drivers guide had a small piece missing around the upper bolt, so i just replaced everything (i had a complete internal timing kit on hand anyway). new guides, tensioner, cam sprocket, crank sprocket, and gaskets, along with a toyota head gasket and intake gasket.
head gasket looked to be original. not bad, 34 years and a tic under 200k miles (196k).
wallytoo
Member
well, now i have some photos. got to do it all over again, as the timing chain broke after about 2 weeks (my fault - i didn't torque the guide bolts, and they were all loose. one backed out and dropped down between the chain and the crank sprocket, which broke the chain). so, replaced the timing set with another OSK set from yotashop, and another head gasket from mcgeorge toyota.
the good news? the whole process went faster, because i had just done it two weeks prior, and thus knew exactly what to remove, and what only needed to be loosened, etc, ie, i didn't remove the fuel damper, because i could set the lower plenum assembly to the side enough to clear the head and intake studs.
i made damn sure to torque all of the guide bolts this time. and, like last time, once everything was reassembled, it started instantly. no leaks, timing was perfect.
cover removed, along with distributor, cam gear, and timing sprocket (and broken chain)
lower plenum disconnected and set aside enough to clear the head
exhaust manifold disconnected only at head
head and timing cover removed
head bolts
the good news? the whole process went faster, because i had just done it two weeks prior, and thus knew exactly what to remove, and what only needed to be loosened, etc, ie, i didn't remove the fuel damper, because i could set the lower plenum assembly to the side enough to clear the head and intake studs.
i made damn sure to torque all of the guide bolts this time. and, like last time, once everything was reassembled, it started instantly. no leaks, timing was perfect.
cover removed, along with distributor, cam gear, and timing sprocket (and broken chain)
lower plenum disconnected and set aside enough to clear the head
exhaust manifold disconnected only at head
head and timing cover removed
head bolts
wallytoo
Member
neither the head nor the block had any notable corrosion of the coolant passages.
wallytoo
Member
bought a marlin crawler w56b 5-speed back in may 2020 to replace the original in my 2nd '87 4runner. finally got around to installing it yesterday!
the install went very well, and the fact that the 4r came from north carolina didn't hurt, as the bolts etc came loose without breaking stuff. while in there, replaced the rear main seal and used a sleeve (i did use a new seal when i installed the rebuilt engine, but the seal still leaked).
minor grrrr, the marlin crawler transmission was supposed to come with a gasket for the transmission/transfer case interface, but when i unpacked the transmission, no gasket. other than that, it looks excellent, and the test drive confirms - no more "rocks in the transmission", and no longer hit the transfer case lever when shifting into reverse. very happy so far.
pulling the pilot bearing while replacing the rear main seal and adding a sleeve:
the install went very well, and the fact that the 4r came from north carolina didn't hurt, as the bolts etc came loose without breaking stuff. while in there, replaced the rear main seal and used a sleeve (i did use a new seal when i installed the rebuilt engine, but the seal still leaked).
minor grrrr, the marlin crawler transmission was supposed to come with a gasket for the transmission/transfer case interface, but when i unpacked the transmission, no gasket. other than that, it looks excellent, and the test drive confirms - no more "rocks in the transmission", and no longer hit the transfer case lever when shifting into reverse. very happy so far.
pulling the pilot bearing while replacing the rear main seal and adding a sleeve:
Chuckles89
New member
When I separated my R150F trans/t-case there was no gasket in-between...
Looks nice!!
Looks nice!!
